The Things We Both Know
by thesoundofwords
Summary: It wasn't over when Blaine moved to New York during their senior year. It still wasn't over when Kurt found Blaine seven years later, engaged to Rachel Berry. A Klaine AU inspired by The Notebook.


_"I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours. "- Nicholas Sparks_

Shelly and Kenneth English always prided themselves on their abilities to remember any face and the name that belonged to it, no matter how briefly they say said face, or how quickly said name was uttered. It's a gift of the trade, they would comment to their friends whenever they decided to pay them a visit to their now incredibly well known coffee shop – the Lima bean. Not to mention, running such a business in a town as small as Lima didn't make it too hard to remember the many faces that came and went. Kenneth distinctly remembered the tiny, loud mouthed girl that loved to cause a stir worthy of the paparazzi whenever there wasn't enough, or too much, whipped cream on her usual winter hot chocolate. The tiny, spunky girl, who they soon learned to be Rachel Berry, had once threatened to sue the Lima Bean when they'd given her one too many dashes of milk in her peppermint tea – claiming that drinking too much milk would give her phlegm and thus leave her unable to perform for her school's talent show that night.

The elderly couple would simply grin and bear the young diva's criticism, constantly reming themselves that they would only have to deal with the girl for one more year, assuming her dreams of Broadway and New York worked out the way she'd planned. Fortunately for them, it seems that they did.

Not all of the Lima Bean's teenage clientele were obnoxious ingenues with a knack for dishing out criticism left and right; in fact, there was one couple in particular that always brought smiles to the elderly owner's lips. The two young boys came in one rainy day in late September, clad in soaked Dalton Academy blazers and smiles so wide they were almost infectious. The smaller boy, who's hair was always kept neatly gelled to perfection, with only a few loose curls appearing at the base of his neck in the summer, stepped up to the counter and quickly ordered for the both of them, the taller brunette blushing sheepishly.

"You know my coffee order?" he asked his companion in shy disbelief.

"Of course I do," the smaller one replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Their names were Kurt and Blaine. The two were both freshmen at Dalton Academy in Westerville at the time. The brunette, Kurt, lived in Lima, and insisted that he introduce his new friend, Blaine, to the finest coffee shop in all of Ohio. Every Friday the two came in after their rehearsals for Dalton's acapella group, the Warblers, taking turns ordering for each other with wide smiles and hushed giggles.

Kenneth and Shelly, along with the majority of the Lima Bean staff, watched as the boys' relationship evolved from bashful friendship o budding romance - from childish giggles and playful shoves to stolen glances and casual professions of love. For three years the staff watched the boys grow, baby fat melting into muscle, and high school sweethearts growing into lovers.

It was on a particularly gloomy August day that the couple came in at their hour, somber looks on their usually cheerful faces. They ordered their drinks halfheartedly, not even touching said drinks as they sat silently across from one another at their usual table. They simply sat there in silence, holding hands across the table, not even attempting to talk about their usual topics for the week: their plans for their first day of their senior year's on Friday, and their plans to apply to NYADA, the school of their dreams. The next day Kurt came in alone, still ordering Blaine's usual medium drip, despite the fact that the curly haired boy was nowhere to be found. Kurt set the drink down across from him, gazing longingly at the steaming cup, tears clearly welling up in his eyes. Kurt didn't come in the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that, or any of the days after that. It was almost as if the two boys had simply disappeared, the only proof that they'd ever even been in the shop residing in the memories of those who had served them. One night, several years after the last day the boys had stepped into the shop, Shelly smiled wistfully as she handed a new customer her grande non-fat mocha, wondering what had happened to the loving couple. She hoped that, wherever they were, that they'd managed to find each other again.

"You're moving?"

Kurt knew that something was wrong. When Blaine had announced that he was taking Kurt to one of the best, and not to mention most expensive, restaurants in Westerville Kurt sensed that they either had something to celebrate, or something was incredibly wrong - and considering their anniversary wasn't for another month, Kurt figured it was probably the latter. Much to Kurt's displeasure, he was right. Blaine was moving to New York, the city they'd dreamed of moving to since practically the moment they'd met.

"I-I tried to tell him that it wasn't fair, but he said the decision was final. Either he relocates with the company, or he loses his job. Kurt… there's nothing I can do." Blaine reached across the table, taking Kurt's hand in his, the pad of his thumb gently trailing along the back of Kurt's palms.

"This doesn't mean we have to break up. We can call, text, Skype - it'll be like that one summer you spent in Florida with your family. Then next year you'll be in New York, we'll both have our NYADA acceptance letters, and everything will be just like we planned," Blaine concluded with a hopeful smile.

Kurt kept his eyes trained on the untouched chocolate cheesecake before him, his mind pounding as it attempted to process one too many thoughts at the same time.

"We can still have our cramped New York apartment?" Kurt asked, the faintest traces of a smile on his lips.

Blaine laughed softly, gently squeezing Kurt's hand in reassurance. "We can still have our cramped apartment, with a door that jams, and a window that only wants to open in the winter."

"And a cat named Cat?"

"And a cat named Cat," Blaine assured, laughing softly.

Kurt finally lifted his head, smiling fondly at his boyfriend. The young couple locked eyes across the table, gazing lovingly at one another. Blaine reached for the fork that rested between them, spearing a sizable portion of cheesecake, lifting the fork to Kurt's lips. Kurt rolled his eyes at his boyfriend before leaning forward, taking the fork into his mouth.

"We'll be okay?" Blaine asked with a loving smile.

"We'll be okay," Kurt replied simply.

And that was that, they'd be okay.

Kurt Hummel was not okay. It seemed as though nothing was going right the already stressed twenty-four year old that day. An air headed NYU student had crashed into Kurt on his way to work that morning, causing the young blonde's frappucino to end up splattered across Kurt's brand new Ralph Lauren button up, not to mention, the twenty minute walk back to his apartment had made him almost half an hour late for work. Once he'd finally made it to the building, his current place of employment, he found out that his boss, Isabelle, had called in sick that morning, leaving Kurt to take her place at four meetings, two luncheons, and one incredibly terrifying conference call with Anna Wintour. Finally, the icing on the cake, Kurt had received the dreaded call informing him that he didn't get the part in the off-Broadway show he'd auditioned for three weeks ago.

Fortunately, Kurt's best friend, Mercedes, knew exactly how to cheer Kurt up after a terrible day - Ben and Jerry's and reading the obnoxious engagement announcements in the Manhattan Chronicle.

"I mean, there aren't many countertenors in New York. Any show should be honored to have me!" Kurt exclaimed before jamming a spoonful of New York Cheesecake into his mouth.

"I know, boo, I know," Mercedes assured, patting Kurt's knee, not bothering to look up from the newspaper in her hands as she scanned the engagement announcements for the week.

"Oh, here's a good one!" Mercedes set own her own tub of Cherry Garcia on the coffee table before clearing her throat dramatically and proceeding to read the engagement announcement in the most obnoxious British accent Kurt had ever heard. "Daniel and Mary-Anne Kraus are pleased to announce their engagement. Daniel and Mary-Anne met at their parents

insistence at the annual Kraus modern art sale at the Kraus country home. They will be exchanging their nuptials at the Crawley Country Club this coming June."

Kurt snorted as Mercedes finished reading with a dramatic flip of her hair. "Alright, that one was pretty funny," he said with a shrug, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he scooped up some more ice cream.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, Kurt eating his ice cream and Mercedes scanning the newspaper. The silence was disturbed moments later by a strange muffled sound falling from Mercedes lips. Kurt looked up from his ice cream with a confused look.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at his best friend, Mercedes simply shaking her head nervously in response.

Kurt's eyes narrowed at Mercedes, setting down his ice cream before launching at his best friend, snatching the paper from her hands. Mercedes flinched in shock before sighing in defeat, allowing Kurt to take the newspaper from her - he was bound to find out at some point anyway. Kurt settled back onto his place on the couch, still laughing quietly as he began to scan the paper for whatever Mercedes had been attempting to hide from him.

"Unless Kate Middleton is announcing her surprise engagement to Prince Harry, I think I can handle whatever's in here, 'Cedes," Kurt said with a roll of his eyes before turning back to the paper.

Kurt's eyes went straight to the large announcement in the center of the page, his lips parting slightly as his eyes fell upon the familiar man in the photo above the announcement. The boy - now a man - he'd once considered to be the love of his life, who he hadn't seen in nearly seven years. The boy he thought had disappeared from his life forever.

_"Mr. Hiram and Mr. Leroy Berry are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Rachel Barbra Berry, to Blaine Anderson, son of William Earl Anderson, and Lorna Mae Anderson._

_Rachel graduated from the New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts with a degree in musical theatre in 2016. She is currently starring as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, and was recently featured in The New Yorker's 'Top Twenty Five Stars Under Twenty Five' column last January._

_Blaine graduated from New York University with a degree in political science, and later graduated from Columbia Law School in 2019. He is currently one of the junior partners at Anderson and Associates. _

_They hope to have a spring wedding."_

Kurt was going to be sick.


End file.
